Close encounters of the MOOSE kind!!

What probably lasted only a minute or so, seemed like hours on Friday when Hannah and I had a harrowing encounter with a cow moose (defending her calf) while finishing our 11 mile bicycle ride on Anchorage's Coastal Trail. Here's Hannah's account of the adventure, which she emailed to some of her friends...I'll add my observations afterwards.

Hi ! It's Hannah! How's your summer?

On Friday (the day after school ended ) My dad and I were biking in Kincaid and all of a sudden a mother moose jumped out of the woods and attacked me! She knocked me off my bike and I was knocked on the ground. I was yelling and crying. The bike landed on me sort of. She then started trampling me and kicking my bike. My dad came next to me and chucked his bike at the moose to get her off of me. She ran away finally. my dad helped me up. I wasn't hurt too bad. My leg was cut and bleeding. She kicked my head (good thing I was wearing a bike helmet) so I had a goose egg there. My bike had a huge dent in the metal from her kicking it. the thing that holds the wheels on was broken. We had to walk a mile to the car. We later got a new bike helmet. I'm doing pretty good right now just really sore. I'm lucky I'm alive!

Hannah

From my perspective, it truly is amazing that Hannah did not get seriously injured. A few years ago a University of Alaska Anchorage student was trampled to death by a moose when he attempted to walk between a cow and calf to enter a campus building. This type of incident happens to others, not to me and my family...wrong! I've lived in Anchorage since 1982 and this incident with Hannah is the first of its kind for us.

With only a mile left in our bike ride and approaching the huge hill leading to the Kincaid Chalet where our car was parked, Hannah decided to build up some steam to help get up the hill. Just as she passed me on my left, a cow moose appeared out of nowhere from my right and charged after Hannah. Why it didn't charge after me instead, I'll never know. I yelled to Hannah to look out and just as she stopped to look back at me, the moose hit her, knocked her off her bike, and she and the bike fell off the trail into a low lying area. The moose was over her in an instant and began to trample her, primarily with her front legs. Luckily Hannah was pinned under the bike so it took the blows (for the most part) instead of Hannah. Upon seeing the moose charge after Hannah, I followed the moose as fast as I could peddle. In one sweeping movement I jumped off my bike, picked it up, and using it as a shield, I attacked the moose who by now was standing over Hannah and her bike. Yelling and screaming, I stood over Hannah while attempting to push the moose off Hannah with my bike. It appeared to work because I was able to turn the moose around and get it off Hannah. I yelled to Hannah to get up, which she did after crawling out from under the bike...she hugged my waist hanging on for dear life. What was weird is that when the moose stopped trying to kick us, it just stood there staring at me though the frame of the bike...eye to eye. The moose blinked first and it lumbered back onto the trail, all the while keeping her eye on us. Once on the paved trail, with its ears still laid back, it ran back into the vegetation towards where Hannah said her calf was last seen.

Needless to say, Hannah was terrified but not in shock. She did sustain some bruises on her legs and has a few bumps on her head from where glancing blows landed on her bike helmet. Her bike took all the major damage...so much so that it was not able to be ridden. We walked the final mile back to the car with me pushing both bikes and trying to console Hannah. The walk actually did us some good because we were able to process the event together and we warned others about the "mad moose" that was on the trail. On the way home, we stopped at McD's and used junk food to help us feel better. We also stopped and bought a new bike helmet for Hannah.

It's now two days since the incident and Hannah is doing fine, although she is still sheepish about walking around outside fearing another moose will attack her...understandable. I think the huge BBQ we had yesterday also kept her mind off things. It truly is amazing how fast potentially deadly events can occur. One accurately placed kick from that moose and Hannah could have been history, just like that unfortunate University student. Thank God everything worked out, including me being healthy enough to ward off the moose...my heart was truly tested in many ways. I suspect Hannah's brush with death will affect her in ways still unknown...it sure as hell affected me.

The Crayton-Lilley family adventures continue.